So Why Is Zinc a Thing for Acne?

Greatly increases your body’s absorption of the Vitamins A and E, which are very important for healthy acne free skin

Reduces keratin, which is is a tough protein that plays a big role in your pores becoming clogged

Blocks DHT (to a small degree), which is the potent form of testosterone that can lead to acne and oily skin

Supports healthy ovulation, which results in a better hormonal balance

Works as a strong antioxidant, which can go a long way to protect against acne and aging

So that’s a lot of ways that zinc prevents acne, and here’s the kicker…

On average, people with acne have 24% lower zinc levels than people with clear skin.

And there is a strong correlation between the severity: the more severe your acne, the more severe your zinc deficiency likely is.

So if you have acne, there is a good possibility you need a bit more zinc in your life.

Zinc Almost as Effective as Antibiotics?

There have been several studies done on zinc and acne, with varying results (likely due to the type of zinc used in the study).

The biggest and most well known study compared zinc to the antibiotic minocycline. Zinc reduced acne “incidences” by an average of 50%. Minocycline reduced it by 66%.

So why not just take antibiotics if they work better?

Well there is no question that antibiotics do work very well … while you are on them.

But the downside is that your bacteria can become resistant to them, and they simply devastate your gut flora and digestive system, which leads to more health problems… and yes, generally a lot more acne down the line.

It’s a tempting but very short sighted fix, in my opinion.

However, while zinc may not work *quite* as well, as far as the study says… it comes with none of these drawbacks, and the effectiveness seems to come pretty close.

So obviously it’s worth a shot! A possible reduction of 50% combined with lifestyle and diet improvements means pretty good odds for your skin.

What Kind of Zinc Should You Take?

Well, you don’t have to take a supplement. You can get plenty of zinc from food too…

Foods with high zinc content are the following (highest concentration at the top):

Seafood, especially oysters, crab, and lobster

Beef and lamb

Spinach and other leafy greens

Pumpkin seeds

Nuts especially cashews

Cocoa powder

Pork and chicken

Beans especially chickpeas

Mushrooms

If you are vegetarian you are especially at risk for being deficient in zinc.

I’m not vegetarian which is why I’ve never bothered to try supplementing zinc, but I’m interested now to see if taking it consistently in a supplement form makes any difference.

Anyway – so if you’re going to take it in a supplement, the type of zinc matters.

When you go look at bottles of zinc, you’ll see all different types… zinc gluconate, methionine, oritate, sulfate, acetate, picolinate.

According to my research, zinc picolinate is one of the best absorbed forms of zinc. And obviously, the more you absorb, the better your results will be.

Another thing about zinc is that people often find that taking zinc supplements will make them feel sick to their stomach for a short while.

Taking them with food helps a lot, and the other good thing about zinc picolinate is that it is also the form that is least likely to make you queasy.

I’ve personally been taking it with food and have not felt sick from it at all.

How Much Zinc to Take for Acne?

This is where it gets all confusing… of course it can’t just be simple!

So you want to take around 30 mg per day of elemental zinc, from what I’ve read.

You don’t want to take too much zinc so don’t take more than this… it’s one of those minerals that you don’t just flush out, so taking too much is toxic. This dose safely leaves some room for the zinc that’s already in your diet.

So, where it gets confusing is that most of the time, the zinc picolinate (or whatever form of zinc it is) will state that it has, say, 50 mg of zinc picolinate in it.

But that zinc is bound (called “chelated”) to picolinic acid, so when you take 50 mg of zinc picolinate, you are actually only getting 10 mg or so of actual zinc (called elemental zinc). Zinc supplements should list the chelate amount, as well as the elemental amount.

Often they only list one or the other though, which makes it confusing as you’re left wondering if they are listing the chelate amount or the elemental amount.

I’ve been taking this one from Life Choice (it’s a Canadian company; I got it at a local store), whose label says “50 mg zinc picolinate … (10 mg)”.

It’s in French, because, you know… Canadian

Now that I understand what that means, I just realized while writing this that I haven’t been taking enough, as I’ve only been taking one per day.

Ideally I should be taking three of these per day to get 30 mg of elemental zinc.

So I will increase my dose and see what happens.

Which Brand of Zinc Should I Take?

Regular strength (2 per day)

Well I can’t objectively say what is the best zinc supplement.

But Thorne is a quality brand that I’ve used before and seems to be highly regarded by naturopaths.

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Comments

I’m starting to feel like I disagree with the idea of taking any supplements to treat acne. I went from taking birth control pills, to taking a ton of supplements (inositol, DIM, zinc, B vitamins, vitamin D, fish oil, etc)… to almost nothing now. It’s not sustainable, it can be addictive, and overall I realized it was not a good approach. I quit my supplements and even though I don’t really have to worry about my skin anymore, I wasn’t feeling well, so I recently made some dietary changes.

I did quite a lot of research (and I still continue to, gotta keep on learning) and my conclusion is: a high carb, low fat vegan diet will make you the healthiest, it’s easy and it is sustainable. Plus, I don’t want to be a part of the disgusting meat industry, and the serious damage that it’s causing to our planet. Watch Cowspiracy and Earthlings. Yes, I guess I’m “one of those vegans” now…
There’s good info on this website: http://nutritionfacts.org/
and I would recommend keeping a food diary at cronometer.com, so that you make sure that you are getting enough calories and the proper amount of vitamins and minerals. I don’t think anyone should try to just guess what deficiencies he/she may have and then take some random supplement for it. First check with this food diary thing, or take a blood test, and if you find that something is off, find what foods will help you. Supplements are more like the last resort and they are not a permanent thing to take.
Peace 🙂

Hi Lilla,
I do completely agree with you that supplements can easily get waaay out of hand. And they cannot replace diet and lifestyle changes… that’s going to make a way bigger difference to your skin than a supplement, and should be the first things to focus on.

However, at least in my own experience, I found that no matter which diet I was on (whether it was vegan or paleo) and no matter how hard I was trying with my lifestyle, my skin wouldn’t go past a certain point. And at that point, I found a few good supplements made a big difference.

I think if you can find two or three good ones that really make a difference to your skin, it’s not so prohibitive and is worth it if they do really work! At least I think so. If it gets beyond just a few of them, it can definitely be like chains. Finding the right ones for you is the tricky part.

Either way, I appreciate your opinion and sharing what worked for you. What works best for people is completely different, and this journey comes with a lot of experimentation!

Zinc made me feel sick but I now have it in a smaller dose in a women’s daily multi essentials pill.

I have tried all the diets like vegan, paleo and yeast free and now have a mixture of what I like but mainly fruit, veg and meat with some rice or gf pasta. I do not consume dairy except the tiny piece of choc here and there.

I need one last thing to push over the final hurdle. Any advice as I’m doing well but still have the odd break out or tummy issue?x

I sort of agree with you….or I am little bit controversial about all kinds of supplements. Before I read Tracy’s book, I always read a lot of articles, for example about zinc, omega3, probiotes etc. I was always trying to find The One “miracle pill”, thinking that I hope THIS will work and cure everything. But the most important thing I have learned is “balance in all areas”. I even had a post-it note where I had written that 🙂 I start to feel, it’s maybe not even good mentally to try randomly this and that and many products..?

And I used to do so many ridiculous things, for example happily gulp down liver detox capsules…with a glass of cola. Uups. I mean, supplements probably won’t work, if everything else is “wrong”.

But this time, I might try zinc anyway 🙂 I found a product in pharmacy, that says zinc chelate, 15 mg zinc and only 1 capsule/day. I wonder if it would be safe to take 2?

Chelated zinc is easier for your body to absorb, if I remember correctly. I occasionally take zinc, when I know that I’m not getting enough from the foods I eat.

Balance in all areas is right 🙂
Yep, I also tried to find “the one miracle pill” and it never happened. It took me a looooong time to realize that some other issues I had were causing the hormonal imbalance I had, which in turn gave me terrible acne. And the root of all this? I think it was mostly diet and stress.

Hi T! yes exactly – balance in all areas! 😀
Zinc chelate sounds very non-specific… chelate generally refers to any mineral bound to some other substance … like zinc picolinate is a chelate of zinc and picolinic acid. Zinc chelate.. what is the zinc bound to? Also is 15 mg the amount of elemental zinc in it? (if so, yes it would be okay to take 2). If 15 mg is the elemental amount, then I guess it doesn’t really matter what the chelate substance is, although like I said… a lot of people feel sick from zinc pills, and also many of the different forms of zinc chelates aren’t absorbed as well as zinc picolinate. So it wouldn’t be my choice of supplement, but you can give it a shot if you can’t find anything else

Ok, hmm..it says zinc bisglycinate, chelated with aminoacids. This brand specifically says “absorbs well”. I hope so 🙂
15 mg elemental zinc per capsule. Actually I talked today with the pharmacist, and she said that even 50mg/day is safe, but only a short period of time. She says I can start with 2 capsules for example during 3-5 days, but then continue only 1/day. I’m not sure exactly why she adviced so.
This bottle has 100 capsules, so here we go…:)

I am curious how long you should continue taking a supplement for. I have been on zinc, probiotics and Thorne SAT for a year. I started taking them because I would have breakouts during that time of the month and right before ovulation. Since taking supplements, the larger inflamed acne has ceased, but I still get small closed pimples around those times. I do wonder if at this point I am taking them in vain. What is the general rule?

Hi Tracy,
Do you have any knowledge about steroid acne? I’m 38yr old women, I’ve always had great skin! I was prescribed a ointment to use on my face. Long story short it was a steroid cream. I was told I had steroid acne. Does this go away or is it something that sticks around? Thanks Andriana

Hi Andriana, actually no I had never heard of steroid cream induced acne until now, but my advice for any person who has acne induced by using some kind of product is to do next to nothing (externally). People always want to go using more stuff, acne creams, etc etc, wash the face a million times a day… of course this just makes it all worse. I would go nearly caveman.. just wash with water, use two drops of an oil (like argan or jojoba) to spread around damp face as a moisturizer, and considering doing a papaya enzyme mask every four or five days to help your skin start regenerating itself on it’s own again… https://thelovevitamin.com/17699/sensitive-clogged-red-skin-rosacea/ .. definitely don’t use it more than that though or do any other exfoliation, considering I’m sure your skin is already thinned majorly from the steroid cream

I tried taking zinc picolinate for almost two months at the dosage of 30 mg/day. However it did not work for me. Recently I have figured out that impaired digestion due to low stomach acid is responsible for acne in my case. That’s why zinc supplementation did not help. I am searching for ways to improve digestion. I tried sauerkraut last year but it gave me diarrhea.

Hi Shimla, ah yes well make sense then if you weren’t absorbing much of it; also of course not every supplement will work wonders for everyone… each piece is all part of a bigger puzzle when it comes to acne

Interesting article. I found that applying a bit of zinc oxide powder topically helps calm my skin and keep me more clear. I mix it with a few drops of my facial oil and use it as a sunscreen, too. The only Dow side is that it turns your face bright white–you really have to rub it in!

I took zinc for maybe 6 months, and my skin completely cleared up. But, I also started taking probiotics during that time frame, and switched up my skin care routine to start cleaning with jojoba oil, instead of the caveman regimen. And I gave up dairy during that period of time as well.

So, it’s impossible to know what what actually cleared up my skin. That’s why I’ve decided to stop listening to people’s anecdotal stories, and just go with what’s been proven to work.

I haven’t taken zinc for a few months now, and my skin is still clear. I’ve also started eating dairy again recently, so I’m hoping my skin won’t freak out. I may start taking small amounts again just for maintenance.

What type of zinc were you taking? I’ve been taking zinc oxide for the months, recommended by my naturopath. I wonder whether to change it to the one that Tracy’s using. I quit benzoyl cold turkey so my skin is just a huge red right mess, so anything helps!

Hey Colleen – I agree that it can definitely get confusing about sorting out what it was that actually helped the most in clearing the skin, since most people try a lot of things at once (myself included; very guilty of this)

Hi Tracy!
I have been following your blog for years now and it has really helped me explore new options for clearer skin. I have taken zinc and still do for general health. I noticed it improved my skin initially (and oddly my allergies as well) and then it stopped working. I usually have just minor breakouts with the occasional cyst, and have yet to find something that works permanently. I have a Vata constitution and am blood type A and recently combined the protocols for both of these philosophies (Ayurveda and eating right for your blood type) and have had great success. I also recently started using an all natural San Marcos sulfur ointment at night for 10 min. and it has been pretty amazing.

First of all thank you so much for this website! It is truly inspiring and helpfull!
So I have these questions which are quite off topic to ask on this post but they restrain me from becoming completely confident and happy with myself.

1. I have been picking on my skin for approximately 3-4 years sometimes severe and sometimes almost not at all. I read that picking on your skin can lead to wrinkles. So my question is do you think that my face will look like a 70 years old by the time I’m 50? Or will it really not have affected the amount of wrinkles? (I’m 19 years old).
2. My second question is rather odd. I have also been picking on the skin on my breasts, do you think this will cause my breasts to become saggy?
3. And hyperpigmentation will fade over time, right?

So yeah I know these questions are a bit weird and off topic but I would love to get an answer! ^_^

Hi Louise,
I’m not really sure, I actually wasn’t aware of any special connection of picking to wrinkles, but picking does damage the skin quite a bit (which is why I advise not doing it) so I suppose it could if it damaged the connective fibres.. I doubt it would lead to prematurely saggy breasts though.
I really don’t know, but there are a lot of good reasons to get the habit under control. Think about what kind of emotions that you are trying to control with your picking… often it’s a habit that is a response to some kind of emotion that we don’t want to feel…
And yes hyperpigmentation will fade over time!

I just wanted to say that when I started to take zinc, my tummy was very “upset” and aching. After about 2-4 days I got used to (?) it and can now take it without any side effects, great! 🙂

By the way, I’m curious to ask, if you Tracy (and everyone else) who is/was doing caveman regime…You see, every morning my face and eyes, eye lids feel very puffy and sort of tired. Splashing many times with cold water seems to relieve all this, skin feels “toned” and really wakes me up! So I can’t imagine that I would not put any water on my face ever…Don’t you miss/need this feeling?

Pimples or not, of course water makes my skin also feel dry if I don’t use any moisturiser afterwards. Moisturisers though often make my skin shiny and then I need to use some make-up powder to make skin dry/matte again. I say this now as a little joke, but I can’t help but to think that life for us women can be quite insane sometimes! 🙂

My skin seems to be doing pretty well! (is the unscientific answer haha) .. I also have been using other supplements (berberine and curcumin) and did a candida cleanse so I can’t say how much can be contributed to zinc, but it seems to be part of something that is working

Great post and enjoy all the comments! I too used to look for the magic pill that would solve my acne woes! I always ate pretty well, but eventually found that grains and dairy were causing my breakouts (and some other issues too!) I’m not saying that will work for everyone, but for me they were a real trigger. As soon as I eliminated them, I could feel the inflammation subsiding. I tried zinc supplements years ago without success, but I have no idea what form they were or what the dosage was. While it is best to get your nutrients from your food, sometimes the right supplement (or combo of supplements) can really make a difference. For me, what I put into my body affects my skin way more than what I put on my body (although I try to pay attention to that too!!!!)

I started taking zinc p 2 months ago and at the same time I started using jojoba oil as a moisturiser. I didn’t get a new cyst or pimple for 2 months and my hyperpigmentaion was just starting to look better. I thought I had found my miracle. But then yesterday: 2 cysts. Bugger.
I have been on antibiotics for a kidney infection and I’m wondering if these messed things up for me.

Over the last few years, I’ve tried several different forms of zinc. Most of them I can’t digest very well.
I have acid reflux (GERD) due to a hiatal hernia that was caused by a car accident, which has resulted in my becoming extra-sensitive to some supplements and foods (especially to those which are known to cause some digestive upset to a considerable percentage of the population anyway, which is the case for zinc).
The zinc that works the best for my digestive system, by far, is Solgar brand “Chelated Zinc” in the 22 mg tablet. The specific type of chelated zinc in that product is called “zinc glycinate amino acid chelate” — in other words, the zinc is chelated with glycine.
I have looked for other brands that make zinc glycinate chelate in tablet form (I buy the tablet form of zinc, so that I can easily cut the pills into smaller portions, if I need to), but Solgar is the only brand that I have found. That brand is pretty easy to find (in North America and the UK, at least), and not too expensive, if you shop around online for a good price.
One tip that I don’t often see in articles about zinc is that zinc is less likely to cause digestive disturbances AND is more likely to be absorbed well by the body if it is taken with a relatively substantial meal that contains a portion of *animal* protein (not just vegetable protein such as beans). Therefore, I try to take it only at meals where I am eating some meat or eggs.
For my acid reflux/GERD, I have found that I can digest my supplements the best if I swallow them about 75% of the way through eating a meal, making sure that there are at least 4 spoonfuls/forkfuls/bites/etc. of food left for me to eat. That way, they are well-layered with food below and above them in my stomach.
My digestion is not happy if I take an entire 22 mg tablet of the Solgar zinc glycinate chelate at one time, so I always cut it down (which is easy to do with clean kitchen scissors) to either half (11 mg) of a tablet, or, if I’m feeling like my digestive system is doing pretty well on that day, to 3/4ths (15 mg) of a tablet, and I just take that portion and leave the other portion for a different day.
As long as I get 11 to 15 mg of zinc on most days of the week, I am comfortable with taking that amount. That is about the recommended daily amount for an adult woman.
I used to try to balance the 11 to 15 mg of zinc with 0.5 to 1 mg of supplemental copper, because of all the online advice that zinc and copper should be taken at a 10:1 to 15:1 ratio in order not to develop a deficiency in one or the other of them, but in the last couple of years, every time I have diligently done that and have taken a small amount of copper along with the zinc, after a couple of months, both of my big toenails developed noticeably grey nailbeds (the skin showing through the toenail) on the lower halves of the nails, which I have read can be a sign that the person has too much copper in the system. The foods I routinely eat probably have adequate copper in them anyway, whereas I don’t really get enough zinc-containing foods in my diet to meet the recommended daily amount of zinc through diet alone.
I also have a lot of the symptoms that people are said to have when their bodies naturally have some trouble processing and retaining zinc, so I am not worried that my copper is going to become depleted if I don’t supplement with copper, since I’m just taking such a small dose of supplemental zinc daily.
If I increased my zinc to 30 mg or more, I would probably revisit the copper supplement situation, but since I’m “naturally” limited to a smaller daily amount of zinc than that (due to my touchy digestive system/acid reflux which doesn’t react well to taking more than 15 mg of zinc a day), I’m not concerned about adding in any copper, for myself.
Also, copper plays a role in brain deposits and dementia/Alzheimers, so one must be careful not to ingest too much copper.
A few years ago, before I got the hiatal hernia and the acid reflux, I experimented with taking 30 to 50 mg of zinc per day for about 6 months to see if it would help my very painful periods, but it didn’t have any appreciable effect on anything (not for my periods, not for my skin, not for my energy level, etc.)
It’s worth a try to take 30 to 50 mg daily for a while, but make sure not to take more than 50 mg of zinc daily (unless you are under a doctor’s supervision), because it can cause health problems when mega-dosed. (On some sites, I have seen a lot of internet commenters saying that taking 100 mg of zinc daily really cleared up their skin, but that is way too much to self-dose. You don’t want to cause a serious imbalance of minerals in your body.)

Disclaimer

I'm not a health care professional. All the information found on this website should be used for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace proper medical advice. Always consult a qualified health care provider before embarking on a health or supplement plan.